Service hatch



W. J. PERCY @WAM SERVICE HATCH Jan.. 19 fj;

Filed NOV. 5, 1934 atented` jan. 14, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application November 5, 1934, Serial No. 751,645

' In Great Britain November 6, 1933 5 Claims.

This invention relates to service hatches which communicate with adjoining rooms, and has for its object to provide a device which in the closed position nts flush with the wall or substantially so, but in the open position is disposed substantially horizontally to provide a table adjacent and on each side of the opening. It is a further object of the invention to provide an arrangement whereby when the device is in the open position no supporting stays mar the accessibility of the device.

A service hatch according to the present invention has doors closing substantially flush with the wall surface pivoted on horizontal axes and adapted to be supported horizontally when open on the cantilever principle.

In order that it may be clearly understood and more readily carried into effect, the invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing, irr

, which:

Figure 1 is al perspective View illustrating a service hatch according to the present invention, the doors being shown in an open position, while Figure 2 is a section taken vertically through a hatch of the improved construction, the broken lines indicating the position of the doors when midway between open and closed positions.

In the drawing the doors are indicated by the reference numerals 3 and 4, while 5 and l are the architraves provided at each side of the door frame 'l which is built into the wall. At some convenient position, such for example as at the free end of the doors in the arrangement illustrated, there is provided some convenient form of ball-catch 8 adapted to engage the frame l and hold the doors in a raised position.

The arrangement for mounting the doors 3 and 4 is more clearly illustrated with reference to Figure 2, from which it will be observed that they are mounted for rotation about the substantially horizontal axes 9 and Il), respectively. The lower` architraves are so arranged that when the doors are turnedabout their axes they engage the inner or outer sides of the doors and support them substantially horizontally. Furthermore, that portion of the doors -3 and 4, which extends inwardly or below .the pivotal axis preferably is of such length that when the doors are in the horizontal position the inner or lower edges of the doors 3 and 4 are contiguous. In some cases it may be desirable to provide a stepped portion on one of the doors adapted to register with the correspondingly stepped por- (Cl. Ztl-0.5)

tion of the other door, so that in the open position the inner edges of the doors actually overlap.

The wall is illustrated diagrammatically at I l in Figure 2 and is shown broken away above and below. The architraves 5 and t, generally speaking, will protrude beyond the surface of the wall.

The device will generally be constructed from Wood, but it will be obvious that any suitable material may be used.

It will be understood that by means of the present invention there is provided a service hatch of which the doors provide in the open position a table adjacent the opening, and in which there are no supporting stays, with the result that the table is extremely accessible. Moreover, by forming the inner edges of the doors 3 and l so that in the open position they are contiguous, it will be obvious that crumbs or foreign matter cannot penetrate into the interior of the frame below the doors in the open position. Similarly, when the doors are in the closed position the upper and side edges abut against the door frame l, while the lower outer face bears tightly against the lower or supporting architraves; thus making it practically impossible for dust to penetrate through to the interior of ythe device.

Where the device is used in conjunction with a thick wall, it may be desirable in certain circumstances, instead of mounting the doors so that their lower edges abut against one another in the open position, to provide an intermediate xed shelf or abutment substantially centrally in the wall frame against which the lower edges oi the doors may engage in the open position. lThe surface of the fixed shelf or abutment will be substantially horizontal and so arranged that it is in the same plane as the doors in the open position.

What I claim is:-

l. A service hatch having doors closing substantially ush with the wall surface pivoted on horizontal axes and adapted to be supported horizontally when open on the cantilever principle.

2,-A service hatch having doors closing substantially flush with the wall surface pivoted on horizontal axes and adapted to be supported horizontally when open on the cantilever principle, wherein the means for supporting each door in the open position comprise the pivotal axis about which the door is mounted and the lower architraves adjacent the opening..

3. A service hatch having doors closing substantially ush with the wall surface pivoted on horizontal axes and adapted to be supported horizontally when open on the cantilever principle, means for supporting each door in the open position comprising the pivotal axis aboutj which the door is mounted and the lower architraves adjacent the opening, the inner ends of said doors in the open position being contiguous to assist in supporting the doors.

4. A service hatch having doors closing substantially flush with the wall surface pivoted on horizontal axes and adapted to be supported horizontally when open on the cantilever prin- 

